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France persuaded President Donald Trump to stay in Syria and launch airstrikes as punishment for an alleged chemical-weapons attack, French President Emmanuel Macron claimed on Sunday.

Appearing live on French television station BFM, the 40-year-old leader said the US, Britain and France had "full international legitimacy to intervene" with the strikes, to enforce international humanitarian law.

The proposed UN resolution includes a request for an independent investigation into the toxic gas attacks which killed more than forty civilians earlier this month and safe passage for aid convoys and medical evacuations.

US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki HaleyCredit:
LUCAS JACKSON

A fact-finding team from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons arrived in Damascus to "begin work" on Saturday, according to the organisation's Twitter feed.

The France-led initiative also demands that the Syrian government engage in peace talks "in good faith, constructively and without preconditions" and allows weapons inspectors into the country.

France's ambassador to the United Nations, Francois Delattre, said that Syria's chemical weapons program must be dismantled in a "verifiable and irreversible way."

"We must spare no effort to set up an international attribution mechanism, prevent impunity, and stop any repeat attempts by the Syrian regime."

Speaking to US media, Ms Haley defended the air strikes, warning that if action had not been taken, the United States could also become a target of chemical attacks.